Mumbai: Medicine shortage hits ‘home TB patients’ hard

A 28yearold Malad East resident who suffers from multidrugresistant TB has missed several doses of her medicine over the past two months Since getting diagnosed last April she had been getting her freeofcost tablets from the WHObacked DOTS centre However these have been facing a severe shortageThe Malad East resident after initial hospitalisation continued receiving treatment at home thanks to directly observed treatment shortcourse DOTS backed by the World Health Organisation WHOThe programme is implemented across the country by municipal corporations where a health worker oversees the dosage of medications for patients The purpose is to ensure that nobody misses a dose of these critical medicines The medicines are available at the civicrun centres mostlyRelatives of patients at the waiting area of Sewri TB hospital The hospital has managed to it maintain its stock of medicines Representation picHowever there has been a shortage of Linezolid Clofazimine and Cycloserine which are used for patients suffering from extensively drugresistant tuberculosis XDRTB and multi drugresistant tuberculosis MDRTB at the BMCrun centres in MumbaiNot financially strongMany like the Malad resident have missed their daily doses or had to shell out hundreds of medicines they bought from medical stores A strip of six tablets of Linezolid cost Rs 210 Most of the patients availing the DOTS benefit do not have a strong financial background to rely on private pharmaceutical storesldquoThese medicines are expensive and I missed my dosage for a few days because I couldnrsquot afford them The consequence is severe painrdquo the Malad resident said At different instances either one or more than one of the three medicines was unavailable at DOTS centresldquoLinezolid has been unavailable for the past two months Clofazimine supply has been inadequate for the number of patients coming in while we have been getting Cycloserine stock that is closer to the expiry daterdquo said a health worker at a DOTS centre in M East wardMissing dosage is badDr Lalit Anande former head of Sewrirsquos TB hospital said ldquoThese medicines are antibiotics used in drugresistant TB patients It is highly problematic if patients miss even a single dose because then it leads to further resistance to these medicationsrdquoA worried husband of another 26yearold TB patient from Andheri East said ldquoMy wife has not taken her Linezolid dosage since Junerdquo He then asked this reporter frantically ldquoNothing will happen to her rightrdquoThe couple bought a packet of Linezolid from a medical store only on Thursday ldquoWe do not know what kind of TB she has but she has been asked to take this medicine every day without fail for 18 monthsrdquo he addedBy MondayDeputy Executive Health Officer and Mumbai TB Officer Dr Varsha Puri said ldquoThe shortage has now been taken care of The medicines will be available at all BMCrun centres by Monday We have already distributed CycloserinerdquoMeanwhile the municipal union addressed a letter to Additional Commissioner Health Sudhakar Shinde and Health Department Head Daksha Shah highlighting the shortage and requested the BMC to address it immediatelyldquoThe employees are facing the anger of the patients due to the shortagerdquo said Ramakant Bane the general secretary of the union A health worker admitted that patientsrsquo relatives are getting impatient and venting at the staff ldquoBut it is not their fault They need the medicinesrdquo he added19311No of cases at public health facilities in Mumbai